heart for I fear that the great insensibility which people have been under of these judgments because they have not reached the Flesh and their sottish inconsideration of Gods dreadfull displeasure herein hath provoked the Lord to send such judgments as have come nearer to sense that they might perceive God was angry indeed before and that his greater displeasure in the former might be known by his more sensible displeasure in the latter Let London seriously consider whether her Gospel priviledges were not her best defence against temporal calamities and whether since her slighting abuse and forfeiture and Gods seisure and stripping her so much of these she hath not been laid naked to those heavy strokes of extraordinary judgments which she hath lately received London had the Gospel Ordinances powerfull pure plentifull Ministers excellently qualified and rarely furnished with ministerial abilities London had as many burning and shining lights as any one such spot of ground under the cope of heaven Not to speak of their abilities for preaching and defence of the truth such gifts of prayer London Ministers had which were no small defence of the City as I believe no City in the World could parallel O what prayers have there formerly been in London Pulpits especially on dayes of solemn humiliation how have the spirits of Ministers been carried forth sometime in prayer for several hours together without tautologies and vain repetitions in such variety of affectionate enlargements and with such raisedness and transports of spirit as if they had been just leaving the body and going to live and abide with God and would converse no more with men or worldly things In their confessions of sin how have they rak'd into the dunghill of a rotten heart and laid abroad its inward filthiness how have they trac'd the foot-steps of its deceitfulness through the maze and wilderness of its many windings and turnings how have they peirced into the very bowels of sin and ript it up as it were to the back-bone bringing forth its very entrals to open view how have they anatomiz'd as it were the body of death in all the parts and members of it discovering withall the several diseases of every part with their cause and manner of working and all this in such pathetical cutting expressions accompanied with such brokenness and bleeding of heart as no form can imitate or effect In their supplications for the pardon of sin for spiritual and heavenly riches O with what feeling and fervour did they express themselves O with what faith and importunity did they wrestle and plead at the Throne of Grace for such favours beyond the importunity of poor prisoners through the grates or poor beggars at the doors when they are most earnest for relief yea how did they besiege God as it were and seem as if they would scale the walls of Heaven it self and take the Kingdome of Heaven with violence and force how have they even pressed in upon God with the dint of argument and laid hold on him with the hand of faith resolving not to let him go without a blessing In their supplications for the Church and Land they have behaved themselves as if they had no private concernments But how did they bear London upon their hearts when they came to the throne of grace what yearning bowels had they towards and for the City how many teares have they shed in bewailing her sins how have they stood in the breach when the Lord hath been coming forth against this place how have they held his arme when it hath been lifted up to strike how have they stood weeping between the Porch and the Altar crying spare thy People O Lord and do not destroy London and many times have they prevailed to appease Gods wrath and turn away his fierce anger which hath been kindled against us Gospel-Ordinances and Gospel-Ministers were the safe-guard of London the glory and defence But when the Ordinances were slighted and the Ministers were mocked and misused by some who called themselves Professors and both were fallen so much in the esteem of the most and London did not yield the fruit which God looked for under such dressing of which more when I come to speak of Londons sins God is provoked not only to call for some of his Messengers home to himself but also to suffer the rest which were most consciencious to be thrust into Corners This this did presage London's near approaching ruine and desolation though few did believe it and because they did not believe it and were insensible of Gods wrath in this judgment therefore their danger was the greater of the other judgments which have come upon them when so many stakes were pluckt out no wonder if the hedge be broken when so many Pillars were removed no wonder if the building tumble to the ground But I proceed to give a narration of the later judgments of Plague and Fire SECT V. THe Plague so great so lately should not be forgotten yet lest the fire more lately and propotionably more great and the amazing fears which since have risen within us should shuffle former thoughts out of our minds and rase out the impressions which by the Plague we had and should labour to retain to our dying hour therefore I shall give a brief narration of this sad judgment and some observations of mine own who was here in the City from the beginning to the end of it both to keep alive in my self and others the memory of the judgment that we may be the better prepared for compliance with Gods designe in sending the Plague amongst us It was in the year of our Lord 1665. that the Plague began in our City of London after we were warned by the great Plague in Holland in the year 1664. the beginning of it in some remote parts of our Land the same year not to speak any thing whether there was any signification and influence in the Blazing-star not long before that appeared in the view of London and struck some amazement upon the spirits of many It was in the moneth of May that the Plague was first taken notice of our Bill of Mortality did let us know but of three which died of the disease in the whole year before but in the beginning of May the bill tels us of nine which fell by the Plague just in the heart of the City the other eight in the Suburbs This was the first arrow of warning that was shot from Heaven amongst us and fear quickly begins to creep upon peoples hearts great thoughts and discourse there is in Town about the Plague and they cast in their minds whether they should go if the Plague should increase Yet when the next weeks Bill signifieth to them the disease from 9 to 3. their minds are something appeased discourse of that subject cools fears are husht and hopes take place that the black cloud did but threaten and give a few drops but the wind would drive
go on still to profane his Name Do you not fear future Judgements will not the Name of God be displayed more dreadfully before you when he opens the Treasures of his wrath and sends his Son in flaming Fire to take vengeance upon sinners and yet will not you fear this Name of God Swearers with what confidence can you pray to God what hopes can you have when you use Gods Name in Prayer that you shall have the least audience or acceptance when you abuse his Name so much and cast such dishonour upon it by your Oaths If you do not pray now as Swearers seldom do will you never be driven to your knees will you never be brought to such extremities that no creature shall be able to give you any relief and with what face can you then look up to God will not your callings upon the Name of God be in vain as you have taken his Name in vain will not God laugh at your Calamity and though you cry and shout will not he shut out your Prayer and barr the door of Mercy upon you for ever Swearers turn from your sin make a Covenant with your mouth set a Watch before the dore of your lips use Gods Name in Prayer and reverently in discourse do not swear by it or take it in vain any more get an awe of this Name upon your hearts which will be an excellent means to keep you from this sin 4. Lyars turn from your evil wayes We read Acts 5. at the beginning of Annanias and Sapphira who were smitten with sudden Death for the sin of Lying it is said they fell down at the Apostles feet and gave up the ghost And hath not the sin of Lying been one ingredient in the meritorious Cause of the fall of so many persons and houses by the Plague and Fire in the City of London This sin of Lying the Apostle doth in especial caution the Colossians and Ephesians against after the wonderfull grace of God in the renovation of them according to his Image Col. 3. 9. Lye not one to another seeing ye have put off the Old man with his deeds And have put on the New man c. Eph. 4. 24 25. Having put on the New man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Put away lying and speak every man truth to his Neighbour And this sin I may caution Londoners against after the dreadful anger of God expressed in the Desolations which he hath made amongst them by his late Judgements Lye not one to another any more but speak every one Truth to his Neighbour The Lord is a God of truth and he cannot lye do you labour to be men of truth such as will not lye The Devil is the Father of Lyes and Lyars Ioh. 8. 44. and which is most eligible to be Children of God or Children of the Devil A lying tongue is one of the seven Abominatitions which the Lord hateth Prov. 6. 16 17. And is there any good you can get by your lying comparable to the evil of rendring your selves hatefull and abominable in the sight of God Is it needfull for you sometimes to speak lyes Is it not a thousand fold more needfull for you alwayes to speak truth are you likely to gain so much by the former as by the later what is a little outward Emolument in comparison with inward Peace are you likely to lose so much by the later as by the former what is the loss of external temporal things in comparison with the loss of your Souls and Happiness for ever Is it needfull to lye that you may excuse your faults this makes them double Herbert Nothing can need a lye A fault which needs it most grows two thereby Parents warn your Children against this sin of Lying do not spare the Rod of Correction where you finde them guilty pass by twenty other faults rather than this Lying is the first link in the Chain of a thousand gross sins rap off their fingers from the first link least the Chain after grow too strong for you to break Masters indulge not your Servants in this sin the resolution of David was Psal. 101. 7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell in my house he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight Especially take heed of leading Servants to this sin by your Example above all of putting them upon this sin by your perswasions or commands for besides the guilt of their sin which hereby you incurr your dammage is like to be more than your advantage by their lyes If you put them upon lying for you they will put themselves upon lying to you and if you deceive others in some things by the former they are likely to deceive you deservedly in greater things by the latter Young ones take heed of Lyes do nothing as may need the cloak and excuse of a lye and if you be overtaken with a fault never deny it when examined but with sorrow acknowledge it as you would gain favour with God and man Take heed of this sin betimes lay aside lying before it grows into a Custom which will be hard to leave Old ones break off this sin before you be dragg'd by the chain of this sin into the Fire of Hell which is the threatned punishment thereof Rev. 21. 8. Be not too hasty in speech least this sin issue forth at the door of your lips before you are aware speak always as in the hearing of God who knows whether your words and heart do agree and who will one day call you to an account for this sin and except you repent punish you for it severely in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone 5. Slanderers turn from your evil wayes The sin of slandering is one of the worst sorts of Lying and the teeth of slanderers are compared to spears and arrows and their tongue to a sharp sword Psal. 57. 4. and when they utter their slanders they bend their bowe and shoot their arrows they whet their sword and wound therewith the reputation of others which they are bound to be as carefull of as their own Psal. 64. 34. Slanderers are false-witnesses who lay to the charge of others such things as they know not Psal. 35. 11. they are Lyons who tear in pieces the good Name of others they are Serpents whose words are stings and full of deadly poyson they are compared to mauls and swords and sharp arrows Prov. 25. 18. yea they are like mad men who cast about fire-brands and arrows and death Prov. 26. 18. By this sin you wound others and are guilty of tongue-murder but you wound your selves more I mean your Consciences and are guilty of self-murder of soul-murder and the poyson of such speeches is not so venemous and deadly in regard of your Neighbours good name as it is in regard of your own spirits which are invenom'd and will be destroyed hereby without the application of the blood of Christ for pardon and healing
GOD'S Terrible Voice IN THE CITY Wherein you have I. The sound of the voice in the Narration of the two late Dreadfull Judgments of Plague and Fire inflicted by the Lord upon the City of London the former in the year 1665 the latter in the year 1666. II. The interpretation of the voice in a Discovery 1. Of the cause of these Judgments where you have a Catalogue of London's sins 2. Of the design of these Judgments where you have an enumeration of the Duties God calls for by this terrible voice By T. V. Micah 6. 9. The voice of the Lord cryeth unto the City and the Man of wisdome shall see thy name Hear ye the Rod and who hath appointed it Printed in the Year 1667. TO All such of the CITY WHO Have seen the Desolations OF LONDON BY The late Judgments of PLAGUE and FIRE IT might have seemed more seasonable unto some if a work of this nature had come forth unto view more immediately after the sound of Gods terrible voice and execution at least of the last dreadfull Iudgment of the Fire because if a Man strikes whilst the Iron is hot it is likely to make the more deep impression which when it grows cool growes hard and unmalleable and if the hammer of the Word had been used when London was newly come forth of the Furnace some might think they would have yielded the more easily unto it's strokes and the better have received the fashion which this Hammer would work them unto and that since the fresh and lively remembrance of the judgement is more worn off it is to be feared that they are more cooled and hardned and therefore in likelihood it will be more difficult to effect a due impression of the Iudgements by the Word upon them yet besides that it was not in my thoughts to attempt this Work until the greatest part of the Winter was spent I may further adde that though a discourse concerning the Plague would have been most seasonable under the Iudgment it self when people who were generally taken off from their trading had room and time for retirement and consideration more than ever they had in their lives before and therefore were more likely to lay to heart what might be spoken or written unto them on that Subject yet the reason is not the same in the Iudgement of the Fire which however startling and astonishing was so far from giving them retiring time for consideration as the former Iudgement of the Plague had done that it did engage them unto more labourious works than ever they had not only while London was burning in removing what they could save of their goods from the Fire but also since in looking out new Habitations and fitting their Houses and Shops for Trades which hath given them occasion for so much distraction that I fear they could hardly settle their mindes to read and consider so seriously as they should what the Lord hath been doing with them speaking unto them by this Terrible Voice which hath sounded so loud in their ears but by this time I hope that the most have attained to some kinde of settlement at least so much as to give them leave to sit down and ponder upon the meaning of God in these strange and dreadful Iudgements of Plague and Fire in the City and therefore this Book may be more seasonable unto the most than if it had been written and presented to them immediately after the Fire had burnt them out of their habitations Friends It is high time for all of you to retire your selves and bethink your selves and wisely to consider Gods dealings with you to open your ear and labour to understand these speaking Iudgments least if God be provoked by your deafness and incorrigibleness to speak a third time it be in your utter ruine and desolation If these Papers be any wayes helpfull to revive in your memories the Iudgments themselves by the Historicall Narration which here you have of them to work your hearts to some sense of sin in discovery of the cause and to perswade you unto a ready compliance with Gods design in the declaring of what God now expects from you after such dreadfull executions as yours will be the benefit so I desire that God may have the whole glory and that you would make this return for my help of you to help me with your prayers that I may be the more helpfull to you in mine who am Your dearly affectionate friend and servant in the Lord. T. V. Gods terrible Voice IN THE CITY Psalm 65. part of the fifth Verse By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us INTRODUCTION SHall a Trumpet be blown in the City and the people not be afraid Shall there be evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it The Lyon hath roared who will not fear the Lord God hath spoken who can but Prophesie Am. 3. 6. 8. When the Pharisees spake to our Saviour to rebuke his Disciples for their loud praises of the Lord with Hosanna's he tells them If they should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out Luk. 19. 39 40. And we read in Habakkuk Chap. 2. 11. Of the stone crying out of the wall and the beam out of the timber making answer Certainly we in London have lately heard the cry of stones and walls of timber and beams in their fall and flames I mean in the late Dreadful Fire which hath laid out Ierusalem in heaps or rather we have heard the Voice of God in this and other terrible things which have come upon us Let none then rebuke if one so unfit do make an attempt to speak something of the meaning of Londons Fire or of Gods Terrible Voice in this and other Judgements when by the mouth of Babes God can declare his Will SECT 1. By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us THis whole Psalm breathes forth nothing but grace and goodness unto the people of God from the beginning of it to the end yea in the verse of my Text where God speaks most terribly and righteously in the Judgements and Destructions which he bringeth upon their Enemies yet he is called the God of their Salvation and those terrible things by which God speaks are not only a righteous answer unto their Enemies sins but also a gracious answer unto his peoples prayers By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us I shall not speak of terrible things in the restrained sense as they befall the Enemies only of Gods people and the wicked whilst the righteous do escape and it may be hereby are preserved but as they may befall any people not excluding Gods people whom the Lord may answer by terrible things in righteousness Two Doctrines we may observe Doct. 1. That God doth sometimes speak unto a People by terrible things Doct. 2. That when God doth speak most terribly he doth answer most righteously First That God doth sometimes speak unto
when the sins of the Land are so obvious and so hainous He is a great stranger in England that doth not know how wickedness hath abounded in these later years his eyes must be fast shut who doth not see what a deluge of profaneness and impiety hath broken in like a mighty torrent and overflowed the Land that hath not taken notice of those bare-fac'd villanies which have been committed amongst us which is a great question whether any ages before us could parallel we read in Scripture of Sodom and Gomorrah and the wickedness sometime of Ierusalem Profane Histories and Travellers make mention of Rome Venice Naples Paris and other places very wicked but who can equal England which calls it self Christian and Protestant for such desperate and audacious affronts and indignities which have been offered to the Highest Majesty by the Gallants as they are called of our times How was Hell as it were broke loose and how were men worse than those which in our Saviours time were possest with devils who cut themselves with stones and tore their own flesh even such who went about like so many Hell-hounds and incarnate devils cursing and banning swearing and blaspheming inventing new oaths and glorying therein delighting to tear the name of God and to spit forth their rancour and malice in his very face and can we then be at a loss for a reason of Gods righteousness in his thus punishing England by beginning thus furiously with London When there were so many Atheists about London and in the Land who denied the very being of God when so many Gentlemen who lookt upon it as one piece of their breeding to cast off all sentiments of a Deity did walk our streets and no arguments would work them to a perswasion of the truth of Gods being shall we wonder if the Lord appears in a terrible way that he might be known by the judgments which he executeth When so many denied the Divine Authority of the Scriptures the very foundation of our Christian faith and reckoned themselves by their principles amongst Turks Pagans and other Infidels however they called themselves Christians and hereby put such an affront upon the Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of the most high God is it strange that the Lord should speak so terribly to shew his indignation when there was such blowing at and endeavours to put out that light which would shew Men the way to Heaven such hatred and opposition against the power of godliness when the name of a Saint was matter of derision and scorn when there was such wallowing in filthy fornication and adultry in swinish drunkenness and intemperance when such oppression bribery such malice cruelty such unheard of wickedness and hideous impiety grown to such a heighth in the Land may not we reasonably think that such persons as were thus guilty being in the Ship were a great cause of the storme of Gods anger which hath made such a shipwrack The Plague indeed when it was come made little discrimination between the bodies of the righteous and the bodies of the wicked no more doth grace the difference is more inward and deepe it is the soul begins to be glorifyed hereby and hath the seed of eternal life put into it when it doth pass the new birth but the body is not changed with the soul the body remains as it was as frail and weak and exposed to diseases and death as before and as the body of any wicked person and therefore the infectious disease of the Plague coming into a populous City the bodies of the righteous amongst the rest receive the contagion and they fall in the common calamity there is a difference in the manner of their death and a difference in their place and state after death as hath been spoken of before but the kind of death is the same So the fire doth make no discrimination between the Houses of the godly and the Houses of the ungodly they are all made of the same combustible matter and are enkindled as bodies infected one by another indeed the godly have God to be their habitation and they are Citizens of the new Ierusalem which is above a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God an abiding City which the fire cannot reach and their persons are secured from the flames of eternal fire in Hell but they have no promise nor security for the preservation of their Houses from fire here in this World The judgments of the plague and fire being sent work according to their nature without distinguishing the righteous But if we further enquire into the reason why the plague was sent the last year and such a plague as hath not been known this forty year which raged so sorely when there was no such sultriness of weather as in other years to encrease it and why the fire was sent this year and such a fire as neither we nor our fore-fathers ever knew neither do we read of in any History of any so great in any place in time of peace what shall we say was the cause of these extraordinary national judgments but the extraordinary national sins It was an extraordinary hand of God which brought the plague of which no natural cause can be assigned why it should be so great that year more then in former years but that sin was grown to greater heighth and that a fire should prevaile against all attempts to quench it to burn down the City and that judgment just following upon the heels of the other what reason can be assigned but that Englands sins and Gods displeasure hath been extraordinary God is a God of patience and it is not a light thing will move him he is slow to anger it must needs be then some great provocation which makes him so furious he is highly offended before he lifts up his hand and he is exceedingly incens'd before his anger breaks forth into such a flame for my part I verily think if it had not been for the crying abominations of the times which are not chiefly to be limited to the City of London and if the means of Gods prescription according to the Rule of his Word which England sometime could had by England been made use of that both Plague and Fire had been prevented 3. Moreover it may be said that some particular persons by some more peculiar and notorious sins in the City may have provoked the Lord to bring punishment upon the whole place if the Land were not so generally profane and wicked the heathen could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A whole City may be punished for the wickedness of one Man yea we read of David though so good a man yet when he numbred the people a small sin in comparison with the sins of some others in our days God was provoked to send such a dreadful Plague not on himself but upon his people that there dyed 70000 men by it in three days and David said I have
God will judge Heb. 13. 4. which should make them afraid I have heard of Smithfield haunts and Moore-field walks whither there hath been too great a resort from the City under the shadow of the wings of the night about these deeds of darkness the words and signs which such lewd persons have used to signifie their minds one to another I am unacquainted withall the many Whorehouses under the name of Alehouses about London by report have had too many customers and if the Constables had been as zealous at other times as they were when the strict Press was in the City to disturb those Conventicles they might possibly have found more of that Coat and Tribe who should have given better example If there have not been publick Stews in London as in other Cities in the World yet have not some made their own houses little better some men bringing in their whores in little better than publick view and of the other Sex some by the open weare of naked breasts and their light attyre and carriage have enticed the eye and courtship and after basely prostituted their bodies to the lusts of filthy Ruffians O the boyling burning lusts that have been in London O the wanton eyes and looks the speculative uncleanness and secret self-pollutions the obscene and filthy speeches the toying and lustful dalliances and the gross actual uncleannâ—ss which God hath been witness to every day in London This sin of uncleanness doth debase the spirit made at first after Gods own image defiles both soul and body which should be the Temple of the Holy-Ghost and renders men unfit for communion with an holy God who is of such pure eyes that he cannot approve of the least iniquity much less of this which is so gross and not only so but doth exceedingly provoke him unto anger and jealousie This may be one sin that hath brought down such fearful judgements upon the City we read of twenty and four thousand men that fell in one day by the Plague for the sin of fornication Num. 15. 9. and have not many thousand inhabitants and habitations of London fallen for this sin It is said of the Israelites Hos. 7. 6. they have made ready their heart like an Oven while they lye in wait their Baker sleepeth all night in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire Have not the hearts of many in London been like an Oven for lust and themselves like Bakers putting fewel into it and stirring it up and if whilest they have lain in wait and have not had present opportunity for satisfaction of their lusts they have seemed to be asleep yet no sooner hath the Morning light of a fit occasion offered it self to their adulterous eyes but their adulterous hearts have burned within them and broken forth into a flaming fire in the actual commission of the sin And hath this been the practice only of the Court and of Westminster side hath not the cursed Leaven of this common sin of the times spread it self also in the City Therefore the Lord also hath made ready his wrath as in an hot Oven and though like a Baker he hath seemed to sleep while he lay in wait and delayd to execute his judgments yet in the Morning of his great provocation by this and other sins his anger hath broke forth like a flaming fire from whence that fire hath been kindled which hath burnt the greatest part of London down to the ground Ier. 5. 8 9. When the Israelites were like fed horses in the morning every one neighing after his neighbours Wife The Lord speaks to them in his wrath Shall not I visit for these things shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this 15. A fifteenth sin of London is Drunkenness This sin hath been more visible and apparent I believe that scarcely any Nation under Heaven hath proportionably more Taverns and Ale-houses than England and no place in England so many as London and its adjacent parts and of all the many thousands of these houses I believe there hath been scarce any but could give many instances of this sin Besides the many private houses where this sin hath been practised How have men risen early in the morning to follow strong drink and continued unto night till wine inflamed them Isa. 5. 11. Come ye say they and I will fetch wine and we will fill our selves with strong drink and to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant Isa. 56. 12. The corners and beds full of vomit the reelings about the streets the contentions and wranglings the wounds without cause the redness of the eyes and such like have been to evident a demonstration of mens tarrying too long at the Wine and distempering themselves with excessive drinking Prov. 23. 29 30. To be overtaken with drunkenness is a great sin which makes men more bruitish than their very Horses who will not exceed their measure in drinking except they be forced to it by Barnacles and if none in the City had yielded to receive the drench of a cup beyond the measure without Barnacles upon their noses I suppose that with their horses they would have been more sober and hereby prevented many distempers of body and worse distempers of mind and which is worst of all much dishonour of God as well as of themselves which excess in this kind hath been the cause of But for men to follow after this sin and make it their trade and common practice to delight in it and seek for their God and chief happiness in a cup of Wine or Ale and to grow men of might in drinking to exceed the bounds by many degrees without reeling to entice others to it yea to force them to drink healths that ungodly practice which would not in the least promote anothers health but was likely to destroy their own through the excess which such practices do introduce to take pleasure in drinking down others under their feet and after to glory in their shame and wickedness this is a sin that doth so far exceed bruitish that it becomes devilish and doth highly provoke the Lord to pour forth his fury like water upon the places where such sins are committed And hath not London been guilty of this sin of drunkenness with the aggravations of it Have not some of Londons Magistrates been guilty who should have punished this sin and too many Ministers who should have reproved it both by word and example of sobriety And for such to be seen drunk and reeling in the streets was very shamefull and a great provocation Have not the late judgements in some sort pointed out this sin the dizziness of head and reeling of persons that have been smitten with the Plague the flaming of the heart of the City and reeling of the houses and tumbling of them to the ground by the fire methinks were a reproof of the dizziness and reelings about the streets and houses of such persons as had
inflamed and distempered themselves with excessive drinking 16. A sixteenth sin of London is perverting of judgement This is a God-provoking sin when none calleth for justice nor any pleadeth for truth when men make to themselves crooked paths and there is no judgement in their goings yea when judgment is turned away backward and justice standeth afarr off and truth is fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter when truth faileth and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey c. as the Prophet speaks Isa. 59. When Magigistrates are lovers of gifts and followers after rewards when they judge not the fatherless neither doth the cause of the widdow come unto them then the Lord cryeth Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries and aveuge me of mine enemies Isaiah 1. 23 24. I cannot charge London deeply with this sin not having been my self present much in their Courts of Judicature and I would hope that justice hath taken place here as much as in most Cities in the world but when I read what the Lord saith concerning Ierusalem Jer. 5. 1. Run ye too and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and know and seek in the broad places thereof if ye can find a man if there be any that executeth judgement that seeketh the truth and I will pardon it and when withall I consider the dreadfull judgments of God upon the City of London whereby the glory of the Magistracy and government of the City is so much stained I would submit it to enquiry whether there hath not been a failure and perverting of judgment in the City whether bribes and rewards have not blinded the eyes and the edge of the Law hath not been turned against well doers instead of evil doers wheâ—her the Fatherless and the Widdow have not been sent weeping to their heavenly Father to complain of injustice It is not a time to cover faults but to confess and leave them least unavoidable ruine come upon us when it will be too late 17. A seventeenth sin of London is Covetousness How universally hath this sin reigned in the City so that it may almost be said of London as it was of Ierusalem Jer. 6. 13. From the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness Those who have been free from gluttony drunkenness adultery and the like expensive sins have on the other hand addicted themselves to the sin of covetousness I do not charge all but oh how almost universal hath this sin among tradesmen been which hath evidenced it self both in their getting and keeping riches 1. In getting what eager desires after the world and their obtaining an estate by their trades What studies and consultations what wracking the brains and torturing the wits to find out the best way of thriving in the world what earnest prosecutions have there been and laborious endeavours rising up early and sitting up late and wearying the body and the mind all the day eating the bread of carefulness and mingling the drink with sollicitousness crouding up the whole time with worldly business so that their own health hath been disregarded as well as the worship of God neglected in the families of these worldlings and all to scrape a little worldly riches together which some have mist of notwithstanding all their endeavours and if they have obtained yet they have remained more poor in contentment than when they were more poor in their estates for as their estates have increased so their desires have increased and been farther off from satisfaction as they have enlarged their shops and trades and wealth hath flowed in upon them so they have enlarged their desires like Hell and like the Grave have never said It is enough when they have added bag to bag and house to house the more cares and fears and sometimes piercing sorrows have accompanied their gains but far have they been from finding the contentment and comfort in their riches that they looked for 2. This covetousness hath appeared in keeping what they have gotten keeping I say for covetous persons have had little heart to spend though in necessary uses what they have scraped together they have had wealth but the use of it they have not had it hath been to them like a treasure in a chest of which they had lost the key or like another mans money in their keeping which they must not meddle withall Whatever abundance they have had in the bag and in the coffer their families have been in want the table hath been penurious the back and belly have been pinched they have lived at a meaner rate than those that have been of a meaner degree The poor might starve at their doors no pitty towards others in want and misery and the least pitty towards themselves whilest they have saved for fear least afterwards they should want they have all along wanted whilest they have been saving and it may be at last they have lost what they have been keeping to the unexpressible grief and it may be breaking of their hearts which have been so set upon these things This sin of covetousness in some hath had deeper rooting in most hath had too much footing and in all hath been very heinous and abominable before God This sin is termed Idolatry in Scripture and the covetous are stigmatized with the name of Idolaters Col. 3. 5. Ephes. 5. 5. It is heart idolatry forbidden in the first commandment That thing we make a God to our selves which we chiefly affect if it be the world then we make the world our God which is inconsistent with the true love of God the Father the only true God 1 Joh. 2. 15. Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him This sin of covetousness is hateful to God and provokes his wrath Isa. 57. 17. for the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him Hath not God smitten London with the plague and fire among other iniquities for this iniquity of Covetousness When London was eagerly pursuing after the World and all minding and seeking their own Interest without any regard to the Interest of Gods glory and Kingdom or care of their soul-interest and salvation which their worldly business would not allow time for did not the Lord send a Plague to put a stop to their Trade and gave them time to seek him and to make their peace with him in their retirements which they could not or rather would not finde before And when they returned with more eagerness to their Trades after the Plague was a little over that they might fetch up if they could what they had miss'd by that intermission did not the Lord send a Fire to consume much of that which they had set their hearts upon and in large legible Letters write Vanity upon this Idol which so many had worshipped Let London consider and lay to
in it and see how many spots it will discover which you never before did perceive not beauty spots but spots of deformity Plague-spots Death-marks Hell-tokens such as will bring upon you inevitable misery unless they be wiped off Take the Rule of the Word and measure your actions by it and you may quickly perceive how much they have fallen short how crooked they have been Rectum est index sui obliqui compare your actions with the straight rule of Gods Law and you may find out many irregularities If you do not find out your sins your sins will find you out and Gods judgements will find you out and if you be found out in your sins woe be to you O the horrour which will be upon your consciences when ruining judgements are inflicted upon you particularly and you cannot escape when Death looks you in the face and comes with the sting of sin in its mouth to devour you But O the horrour you will be under hereafter if you be taken away in your sins when your souls shall be summoned immediately after their separation unto the barr of God where you will be searched and tryed and condemned to everlasting torment by an inevitable and irreversible sentence of the Judge himself O therefore hearken to the voice of God in these temporal judgements on the City after which you still remain alive through infinite patience which calls upon you to search and try your wayes that you may escape more fearful judgements which may be preparing for you labour to find out your sins which are the cause of all judgements temporal and eternal and to help you in your search after sin read the Catalogue I have given you of Londons sins and examine your selves thereby be very serious and thorow and impartial in this search sequester your selves often from all company ease your mind of the load of worldly business leave the carriages at the bottom of the hill strive against temptations and indispositions to the work set your selves in the Presence of the Heart-searching God beg the help of his spirit to discover to you what hath displeased and provoked him search after sin as offensive to God and as destructive to your selves as your worst enemy as the cause of Plague and Fire in London and as that which will bring the Plagues and Fire of Hell upon you if it be not found out and subdued 4. God doth expect that London should acknowledge their sins unto him When the Prophet had directed the people to search and try their wayes after the execution of such Judgements upon them Lam. 3. 40. see the following direction v. 41 42. Let us lift our hearts with our hands unto God in the Heavens we have trangressed and have rebelled c. thus the Prophet doth confess the sins of Ierusalem Chap. 1. 8 9. Ierusalem hath greatly sinned therefore she is removed Her filthiness is in her skirts she remembred not her last end therefore she came down wonderfully and thus the Daughter of Zion as she bewaileth her affliction so she acknowledgeth her transgression v. 17 18 20. Zion spreadeth forth her hands and there is none to comfort her The Lord is righteous for I have rebelled against his commandment Behold O Lord for I am in distress my bowels are troubled mine heart is turned within me for I have grievously rebelled Thus Daniel after dreadful judgements maketh confession of the sins of the people of Israel chap. 9. 4 5 6. I prayed unto the Lord and made my confession and said O Lord the great and Dreadful God we have sinned and committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and thy judgements neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the Prophets which spake in thy name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the people of the land and v. 11 12. Yea all Israel have transgressed thy law by departing that they might not obey thy voice therefore the curse is poured upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God because we have sinned against him And he hath confirmed his word which he spake against us and against our judges that judged us by bringing upon us a great evil for under the whole Heaven hath it not been done as it hath been done upon Jerusalem God doth expect that London should find out their sins and having found them that they should make confession of them O that the Prophane and ungodly generation in London whose sins have been enumerated in the Catalogue would be perswaded to get alone by themselves and consider their evil wayes and what the consequents of their sins have been in bringing down temporal Judgements what the consequence of their sins is like to be even the bringing upon them eternal Judgements and that they would fall down and prostrate themselves at Gods foot and covering their cheeks with shame and blushing because of their filthiness and foul sins under the view of so holy an eye that they would acknowledge their transgressions unto him not only in general but also particularly with their heinous aggravations O that with an inward deep sense with a bleeding broken heart they would fill their mouths with confessions that they would take to themselves words and say We have rebelled against thee O Lord and done wickedly and grievously offended thee so foolish have we been and ignorant of thee we have been worse than beasts before thee the Oxe acknowledgeth his owner and the Ass his master but though we are thy creatures and live upon thy bounty and are daily at thy finding yet we have not acknowledged thee and have had less consideration than those creatures who have had no reason we have been a sinful people laden with iniquity a seed of evil doers children that have been corrupters who have forsaken thee and by our wickedness provoked thee to anger We have been stubborn and disobedient serving thine enemies the devil and our own lusts but have neglected yea refused to serve and worship thee in our families and closets living as if there had been no God in the world We have seldom if ever taken thy Name into our mouths unless it hath been in vain unless in our Oaths and Curses We have prophaned thy Sabboths and defiled thine ordinances and have often been more wicked on the Lords day than any day of the week besides When we were children we disobeyed our Parents but disobeyed thee much more who didest command us to honour them when we were children in years we were grown Men and Women in sin when we were weak in body we were strong in spirit to commit iniquity we learnt the trade of sin before any other and were apt Schollars in the School of the Devil when dull and blockish to learn any thing which was good we were wise to do evil when to do good we had no understanding our iniquities have
39. 9. When Nadab and Abihu the two Sons of Aaron were consumed with Fire from Heaven for offering strange Fire before the Lord It is said that Aaron held his peace Lev. 10. 1 2 3. So when God hath consumed the City of London with Fire for the sins of the Inhabitants let them hold their peace because they have deserved it Let London be still and know that God is righteous let London lay her hand upon her mouth and her mouth in the dust let London close up her lips and seal them up with silence or if she open them let her mouth be filled with Confessions not with Complaints or if she complain let her complain to God but let her not complain of him if she complain let her complain against her self but let her not complain against God let her complain of her own sin and wickedness but not of Gods Judgement so righteous Let London wonder it is no worse with her when both her sin and her danger was so great let her wonder when God was so angry that he should put any restraint upon it that when wrath was come forth that it proceeded no further let her wonder that the Plague did not quite depopulate her and that the Fire did not wholly consume her let her wonder it is so well with her that she is not made a Desolation and say It is the Lords mercies we are not consumed Lam. 3. 22. 7. God doth expect that London should mourn for her sins We read Ier. 3. 21. A voice was heard upon the high places weeping and supplications of the house of Israel When the terrible voice of Gods Judgements hath been heard in London God doth hearken for the voice of Weeping and Supplications this Gods voice doth call for when breaches were made in the City of David Isa. 22. 9. then did the Lord of hosts call to weeping and to mourning to baldness and to girding with sackcloth v. 11. and when instead hereof there was joy and gladnesse eating flesh and drinking wine the Lord is so angry that he threatneth surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die v. 13 14. See also what the Lord calls for to the Daughter of Sion under her Judgements Lam. 2. 18 19. Let tears run down like a river day and night give thy self no rest let not the apple of thine eye cease Arise cry in the night in the beginning of the Watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord. God doth not only expect that his Ministers and Priests should weep between the Porch and the Altar when sore Judgements are upon his Land as Ioel 2. 17. but also that the People should weep too that the Bridegroom should go forth of his Chamber and the Bride out of her closet as v. 16. that people should be afflicted mourn and weep that their laughter should be turned into mourning and their joy into heaviness Jam. 4. 9. He expects that those which escape his Judgements should be like Doves upon the mountains every one mourning for his iniquities as Ezek. 6. 16. London may mourn for her Judgements which have been so dreadfull but God expects they should mourn more for his displeasure which hath been the cause of these Judgements and most of all for their sins which have been the cause of his displeasure Weep London weep for thy sins which have been so many and provoking let thine eye affect thine heart When thou lookest into thy Burying places and thinkest how many of thy people have lately there taken up their habitation it should draw tears from thine eyes to think of thy sins which opened the doors of those Lodgings unto them Methinks when thou passest thorow thy ruinous Habitations and seest the heaps of Stones at the top of thy streets when thou viewest thy half-Churches and bare Steeples and ragged Walls and open Vaults and the dismal Solitude in those places which not long ago were full of people it should fill thine heart with sorrow for thy sins which have kindled such anger in the breast of God as to send the late dreadfull Fire which hath made such desolations Mourn London mourn put on Sackcloth thou seest in part what an evil thing and a bitter it is to offend a Holy and Jealous God the effects of sin here are fearfull sometimes what evil is there is sin then which is the cause of thy Ruines God looks now that the sinners of London should become Mourners We read of a Mark which was set upon the foreheads of them in Ierusalem which did mourn and cry out for the Abominations that were done in the midst thereof and they were separated from temporal destruction which was brought upon the rest Ezek. 9. 4. 6. God doth set a mark upon them that mourn in London for the sins of London and however he may deal with them in regard of temporal Calamities be sure he will separate them and preserve them from eternal destruction Methinks the fall of London calls for a Mourning like the Mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo where Iosiah fell in battle Zach. 12. 11. And there should not only be publick mourning but also private mourning and secret mourning Families apart and Persons apart It becomes Christians now after such strokes of Gods wrath to keep secret Fasts to bewail Londons ruines especially to bewail Londons sins their eyes should weep in secret places for the Abominations committed in the City and bedew Gods feet with their tears that if possible they might turn away his displeasure 8. God doth expect that London should labour to pacifie his anger When God threatned to send the Sword and to cut off from Israel the head and the tail the branch and the rush in one day and to send the Famine so sore that they should eat every man the flesh of his own arm yet it is said For all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still Isa. 9. 14 17 20 21. And now God hath executed his Judgements of Plague and Fire in London have not we reason to fear that his anger is not yet turned away but his hand is stretched out still When the houses of London were consumed which were the fuel to the late Fire then the Fire quickly went out and if the sins of London had been consumed with the houses if the Inhabitants of the City had not brought forth their sins when they were forced to leave their goods behinde unto the flames then we should have reason to think that the Fire of Gods anger was gone out and his wrath turned away from the escaped remnant of London insomuch as the sins of London have been the fuel as it were to this Dreadful Fire but when so much sin after such Judgements is saved alive untouch'd and unmortified when the Plague of sin doth rage so much after the Plague of Pestilence is removed and the Fire of lust doth
astonishment and confusion that covers the face the dismall apprehensions that arise in the minds of most concerning the dreadful consequences which are likely to be of this fall of London How is the pride of London stained and beauty spoiled her arme broken and strength departed her riches almost gone and treasures so much consumed The head now is sick and the whole body faint the heart is wounded and every other part is sensible of its stroke never was England in greater danger of being made a prey to a forraign power than since the firing and fall of this City which had the strength and treasure of the Nation in it How is London ceased that rich City that joyous City one corner indeed is left but more than as many houses as were within the walls are turned into ashes The Merchants now have left the Royal Exchange the buyers and sellers have now forsaken the streets Grace-church-street Cornhill Cheapside Newgate Market and the like places which used some time to have throngs of traffiquers now are become empty of inhabitants and instead of the stately houses which stood there last Summer now they lie this Winter in ruinous heaps The glory of London is now fled away like a Bird the Trade of London is shattered and broken to pieces her delights also are vanished and pleasant things laid waste now no chaunting to the sound of the Viol and dancing to the sweet Musick of other Instruments now no drinking Wine in Bowls and stretching upon the beds of lust now no excess of Wine and banquettings no feasts in Halls and curious dishes no amorous looks wanton dalliances no ruffling silks and costly dresses these things in that place are at an end But if houses for sin alone were sunke and fuel for lust only were consumed it would not be so much but the houses also for Gods worship which formerly were a bulwark against the fire partly through the walls about them partly through the fervent prayers within them now are devoured by the flames and the habitations of many who truly fear God have not escaped and in the places where God hath been served and his servants have lived now nettles are growing owles are screeching thieves and cut-throats are lurking A sad face there is now in the ruinous part of London and terrible hath the voice of the Lord been which hath been crying yea roaring in the City by these dreadful judgments of the Plague and Fire which he hath brought upon us Thus you have the Narration of the judgments themselves SECT VII 2. Concerning the Cause of these Iudgments why hath the Lord spoken by such terrible things in the City of London IN giving an account hereof I shall make use of the second Doctrine observed from the words That when God speaks most terribly he doth answer most righteously They are Gods judgments and therefore they must needs be righteous judgments Can there be unrighteousness in God No in no wise for how then could he be God How then could he judge the world Let God be true and every man a lyar Rom. 3. 5 6. Let God be righteous and all the world unrighteous for light may more easily depart from the Sun and heat be separated from the fire and the whole creation may more easily drop into nothing than God cease to be just and righteous in the severest judgments which he doth inflict upon the children of men If any profane mockers do reply against God and reflect upon his righteousness and goodness towards his own people because these judgments have fallen so sore upon London the Glory of the Land yea of the World for the number of godly persons as in scoff they call them which dwell in it if God were so righteous and favourable to the Godly would he bend his bow and shoot so many arrows amongst them as he did in the visitation by the Plague whilst he suffered so many notoriously wicked persons to escape would he send the Fire to consume so many habitations of the Godly whilst the houses of the most vicious and vile were preserved I shall labour to stop the mouths of such who are ready to open them against the King of Heaven by proposing to consideration these following particulars 1. That Gods way is sometimes in the Sea and his paths in the great Waters and his foot-steps are not known Psal. 77. 19. That his judgments are unsearchable and his waies past finding out Rom. 11. 33. And that even then he is righteous in all his waies and holy in all his works Psal. 145. 17. And when clouds and darkness are round about him righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his Throne Psal. 97. 2. And when his judgments are a great deep his righteousness is like the great Mountains Psal. 36. 6. We do not understand all the mysteries of nature neither are we acquainted with all the mysteries of State and if there be some mysteries in Gods way of governing the World and distributing temporal mercies and judgments which we do not apprehend in every thing the meaning of and cannot so fully trace Gods righteousness and goodness therein let us say it is because our eyes are shut and that we are covered with darkness Therefore let us shut our mouths too and seal up our lips with silence not daring in the least to utter any thing which may derogate from these attributes in God which are as inviolable and unchangeable as his very Beeing This might be said if the reason were more abstruse than it is 2. But secondly the reason of Gods judgments and righteousness therein with the salve of his goodness towards his own people may be apprehended if we consider 1. That these Judgments of Plague and Fire are both of them National judgments 1. The judgment of the Plague was National in as much as London was the chief City in as much as the Kings Court was here and most Countries had relations here and all Countries had concernments here moreover the Plague was not only in London and Westminster and and places neer adjacent but it was dispersed into the Countries at a farther distance as Cambridge Norwich Colchester and other Towns where it raged either the same or the next year as much proportionably as it did in London 2. The Judgment of the Fire which burned down only the City and left Westminster and the Suburbs standing and did not reach into the Countreys yet was a National judgment because London was the Metropolis of the Land because the Beauty Riches Strength and Glory of the whole Kingdom lay in London and it was not the inhabitants of the City who alone did suffer by this fire but the whole Land more or less do and will feel the smart hereof 2. These Judgments then being National it is not unreasonable to say that National sins have been the cause of them and if so we may readily finde a reason of Gods righteousness in these proceedings